Safety And Inspection Manual

Beams Safety

Beam Damage

• Any damaged upright slots should not be used. Move beam up or down to undamaged slots.
• If a beam is disengaged, reposition immediately with safety clip in place.
• Always replace a beam that has a damaged weld or connector.
• Beam clips and locking pins are designed to prevent the beam from being dislodged.
• If a locking pin is damaged or missing it must be replaced.

Recommended 1st Beam Height

• As a guide, the first beam should not exceed 1500 mm in height above the ground.
• Measure what you will store at the lowest level (typically ground level) and add 200 mm for clearance.
• Installing your first beam more than 1500 mm above the ground will reduce the overall capacity of the bay and can cause bay instability.

Overloading Beams

How to calculate beam deflection depth?

1. Measure the length of the Beam (span) E.g. 2590 mm
2. Attach a string from one end connector to the other across the beam
3. Measure the distance from the string to the bottom of the beam at the centre in an unloaded capacity E.g. 10 mm unloaded
4. Calculate the allowable deflection for the beam that you are using based on the current formula

How to calculate horizontal beam deflection?

1. Measure the length of the Beam (span) E.g. 2590 mm
2. Attach a string from one end connector to the other across the beam
3. Measure the distance from the string to the bottom of the beam at the centre in both a loaded and unloaded capacity
4. Calculate the allowable deflection for the beam that you are using based on the current formulas

Uprights Safety

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Out of Plumb

• For the safety of the racking and to keep its maximum weight capacity the uprights must be level.
• To check, place a 1 m spirit level on an unloaded racking upright.
• If the upright is found to be leaning measure the out of plumb (x) distance and compare to allowable tolerance.
• As a rule, in a loaded capacity the upright cannot have an out of plumb distance of greater then 2 mm over a 1 m span. E.g. If you have a 6 m upright it will only have an allowable tolerance of 18 mm over the length of the upright. The same rule applies if the measurement is taken from front to back.
• Uneven or out of plumb upright can be rectified by un-bolting the beam and placing shim plates under the lower side, just give us a call and we can do that for you.

Bracing Damage

• Damage to bracing often occurs during the day-to-day operation of the warehouse and must be noted during routine inspections.
• If damage is within an acceptable tolerance, then the racking may continue to be used. But if not, it must be deemed unsafe until bracing is replaced.
• The maximum bracing damage in either direction or plane over a 1000 mm distance = 10.0 mm
• The allowable damage for bracing less than 1000 mm in length is pro-rata the above. E.g. 5.0 mm over 500 mm

Upright Damage

• Damage can occur to the uprights either side to side or more common front to back.
• As with bracing damage the racking may continue to be used provided the extent of the damage is within acceptable tolerances.